Ecology Begins Within

We live in an unnatural world - out of synch with our natural rhythms. One of the great benefits of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan is its power to draw us back toward our original nature.

For us, as Kundalini Yogis in the tradition of Guru Nanak, our body in all its natural glory is our home base. We consider it a temple, a holy place, and we adorn it, but never take from it.

Early on, when Yogi Bhajan was laying out the basic foundation of his teachings, he spoke of the inherent integrity of our human bodies:

"There is nothing on your body without a purpose. Nothing. Not a single hair grows on your body without a purpose. You can chop it off as much as you like. You may have tomorrow a razor which may be fixed on your body, running all day, chopping off all the hair. Why not? Tomorrow they will make an electric-batteried hair cutter and you can put it on your back and it will work on all your body, chopping off all your hairs all the time.

"Perfect. You can make it. You are a human being. You will do crazy things. But God has another way. He will keep on growing it, moment to moment, because God knows 'this guy is crazy, but I am God and I am not going to be.' Nothing in this body exists without need. It is the need of the body which exists...

"Does man grow hair and has man been created by himself? And do you not doubt the Creator to begin with when you do these changes? Do you honestly believe that you are a creation of the Creator? It's a simple question. And if you honestly, truthfully, very honestly, very truthfully and absolutely believe that you are a creation of the Creator, then why do you interfere with his creation ji? Why do you mess it up? Do you know how much the body has to to produce to compensate for that?" (Yogi Bhajan, Santa Cruz Teachers' Course 1972)

As students and teachers of this sacred yoga, we can be uniquely positioned to speak and work for ecological peace by being at peace with our first environment, our body. In reality, nature includes our physical body. Every industrial chemical made by man can be found in the human body, even in innocent embryos and mothers' milk.

Deep ecology is when we make peace with our first environment before embarking to bring the outer world to greater harmony and equilibrium. It is really thinking globally and starting locally. It is truly being the change we want to see in the world. In so doing, our body itself becomes the medium for the message we want to relate.